


Detention

by alrightginger



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Detention, F/M, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28016505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alrightginger/pseuds/alrightginger
Summary: Afterwards — after the incident by the lake, after James gave into the childish urge to taunt and tease Snape, after Snape had called Evans a slur, after he nearly pantsed the other boy in front of most of the student body, after everything — they receive detention.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	Detention

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt: I was wondering if you could write a jily fic where 5/6th yr lily somehow ends up in the same detention that James was put in? So they have to spend more time together. Xx

Afterwards — after the incident by the lake, after James gave into the childish urge to taunt and tease Snape, after Snape had called Evans a slur, after he nearly pantsed the other boy in front of most of the student body,  _ after everything —  _ they receive detention. 

James, Sirius, Snape, even Lily all are on the receiving end of a detention slip by the end of the day, and what a very long day it turns out to be. 

James knows why he and Sirius have to serve. That’s no surprise. The whole reasoning for his detention plays in his head on constant repeat.

He even knows why Snape has received detention. Someone — Mary, James assumes — has ratted on him for using a slur in reference towards Lily. Normally James does not approve of snitching, but he feels that this is a case that is warranted. The bitter side of him is happy to know that Snape has been punished.

He doesn’t, however, know why Lily is currently in detention. Which is unfortunate, seeing as they’re detention mates, and she  _ won’t bloody talk to him.  _

The professors had learned a long time ago to never pair him with Sirius when it came to detention. The only good that could come of them being in a room together were more things to land them in detention. 

He had been elated when he walked into the room and saw Lily already sitting in a desk towards the front, a book open in front of her. She gave him a pointed look that clearly expressed that he need not sit beside her when she saw him though. 

He obeys, taking a seat directly behind her instead.

They have Binns for detention tonight, which isn't that bad, all things considered. He isn’t one to make them scrub down trophies or sort through plants to be used for healing potions for the hospital wing. Mostly he just floats there, allowing them to catch up on schoolwork. Which is what Lily appears to be doing, though the page hasn’t turned in the last ten minutes. 

James himself finds that he can’t seem to take his eyes off the back of her head. He studies the curve of her ponytail.

Why is she in detention? 

Binns floats too far until he passes through another wall entirely and out of sight. James wonders if he even knows what he’s done. Maybe he’s forgotten where he is and that he’s supposed to be running detention, and has gone back to...wherever it is he goes to when he isn’t teaching. 

James isn’t sure. 

When a few moments pass and Binns doesn’t return, James decides to take his chances. 

“Evans,” he whisper shouts, even though he really doesn’t have to. There’s no one around to scold him. “Hey,  _ Evans!” _

Lily sighs. “Leave me alone, Potter.”

“I just wanted to apologize —” 

“You’ve already done that,” Lily says, slamming her book shut and turning around in her seat to face him. “Or, at least, you’ve tried, but you haven’t done it successfully yet. I’ll let you know when you finally manage to figure it out.”

James’ eyebrows shoot up. At least she’s paying attention to him now, but she’s furious. He isn’t sure how to handle her. He never really is, come to think of it. 

“How have I not apologized  _ ‘successfully,’”  _ he repeats, trying not to sound taunting when he does. “I said I was sorry for what happened by the lake —“

“You apologized for what  _ Snape  _ said to me,” Lily points out, and James doesn’t miss the way she refers to him by surname now. He doesn’t miss the way she nearly spits it. “You never actually said you were sorry for what  _ you  _ did. You never took responsibility for your own actions. There’s a difference.”

James floundered. What he had done by the lake was to Snape. Not to Lily. His actions hadn’t affected her. Not really. 

Right?

“But I — I didn’t actually do anything to you.” 

As soon as he says it, James knows it’s the wrong thing. Lily’s eyes go hard, they way that they only seem to do around him. He wonders why that is. 

“You really have no idea, do you?”

“What?” 

“Sometimes it’s like there’s two versions of you, James,” Lily explains, her voice wavering. She’s hurt, he realizes. He hurt her. “There’s the you who is extremely gifted at magic and Quidditch, who helps a lost first year on their first day of classes. The you who is  _ such a good friend.  _ I see the bond you have with your friends, I see the things you’re willing to do for them. Even when you think other people aren’t looking. I see it.”

James is silent for a moment, wondering how much she knows. Lily is observant. Does this mean she’s been watching him too? 

He thinks back to the insult she threw at him by the lake, how detailed it had been. How she accused him of playing with the Snitch and his hair. Has she been watching him the entire time he’s been watching her?

It makes sense in a way he can’t quite comprehend just yet. 

“And then there’s the you who acts like a spoiled prat,” Lily continues. “The you who shows off, and will take any sort of attention as long as all eyes are on you. Even if it’s bad. The you who I  _ know  _ can do better because I’ve seen you  _ be better.  _ You’re so much better than what I saw out by the lake today, James.”

James swallows. “Lily — I — Snape, he hexed me first —“ 

“It doesn’t matter what Snape did you to first,” Lily says, shaking her head. “It matters how you handle it. How you choose to be better than that. Pantsing him by the lake and holding him at wand point upside down doesn’t make you the better person.”

James feels like a child wanting to tattle. Like he’s been caught doing the wrong thing and can’t get out of it. Snape had hexed him first. Snape had been heckling him for a week straight. They’ve been at each other’s throats for years now, and it feels like they’re reaching a boiling point.

Snape is not innocent. 

But James knows he’s not either. 

He knows he can do better. Be better. 

Lily does too, the way she looks at him. 

“For the record, I didn’t manage to actually pants him,” James grumbles, looking down at his desk instead of at Lily. “McGonagall got there before I could.”

Lily is silent for a moment after that, but James can still feel her eyes on him. They’re heavy. 

When he finally looks back up at her, he tries to maintain eye contact. He tries to be brave enough to look her scrutiny dead on. 

“You’re better than this James,” she says again. She sounds like she believes it. “I know you are. There are so many times I wish I could be your friend. So many times I wish I could be close to you.” 

“I want that too,” James admits. 

And he does. 

More than anything he desires to be close to her. Something in him is drawn to her, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. 

It burns in him like a monster. 

“Then do  _ better,”  _ Lily tells him. “Meet my standards.”

Lily turns back around, and James wonders if it’s possible for him to do such a thing. Can he be the type of person she says he is? 

He can certainly try. 

Another moment passes and James decides to press his luck one more time. 

“Hey, Evans,” he says, watching as she glances over her shoulder at him. “How’d you end up with detention?” 

To his surprise, Lily laughs. 

It takes her a moment to answer, and when she does he can see the way her fingers fiddle with the hem of her skirt.

“I told Snape where he could shove his wand. It was provoked, but still. A Slytherin prefect overheard me. It wasn’t my best moment.”

James disagrees, biting back his own laugh with a grin. He thinks she’s positively brilliant.

He’ll tell her so one day. One day when he deserves the chance.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to comment!


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